Greyhound Guinea Pig

I have to begin by saying thank you to KP for being my “Greyhound Shipping Guinea Pig.”  I shipped her beautiful ikat bench to Austin last week.  What a learning process this has been!  The adventure began with my husband and I attempting to fit the bench into our small car.  Always having SUV’s in the past, the thought of “Will something fit in my car” never has crossed my mind.  I really should start thinking this way, especially after trying 31 different ways we got it in!  Who cares if the windows had to be down.  The bench was wrapped in trash bags and packing tape, as I didn’t want the paint to be scratched; but it still looked pretty ghetto.  Next I was posed with two questions: How do you fit a 56 in long bench into a box; and, Where do you find said box?  Answer:  Buy 3 boxes and a role of duct tape at Staples, of course!  Thankfully we took it up to the White Plains Greyhound Station, knowing that there would be a parking spot (gotta love NYC).  We assembled the box, I guess you can call it a box, and after a bumpy ride from NY to Texas it arrived and put a smile on KP’s face when she walked into the Austin Greyhound station.  Hopefully the expression on her face was a smile and not an “Oh geez, what did I get myself into!”  Thankfully it made in one piece and KP was able to hack through the duct tape and trash bags to find her new bench -- and the two lived happily ever after!  


My newest project is an ottoman for an Upper West Sider neighbor.  I picked up the piece in Connecticut last week and found some fabulous fabric while I was home in Dallas.  I love this fabric so much I bought it in two different colors.  My Mom described it best as tiny little velvet pebbles.  

The main purpose of my trip home on Sunday was not for fabric, but to see my beloved Texas Rangers in the World Series.  What an experience,even though they lost!  And of course I couldn’t resist  fabric shopping all day on Monday with my mom, after taking my husband to the airport at 5:45am so he could get back to work and pay for my fabric shopping adventures.  Needless to say, we found some amazing things that I can’t wait to use!     

 Go Cowboys, just kidding, long live the Rangers!

kendall

royal blue and silver-gray authentic ikat fabric.  silver-gray braided trim.  painted glossy black. 

A girlfriend of mine in Austin had been wanting a chaise to put in her house.  And so the hunt began for a piece we could work with and eventually ship to Austin.  I found this and wasn't quite sure if it would work for what she wanted, but she immediately jumped on board and saw the potential I did.  I forgot to take a before pic (as usual), but the guy I bought it from said it was from Crate and Barrel.  Originally an bench made to go at the end of a bed, wood frame with a rattan seat and arms.  

I had been wanting to use ikat fabric on a piece and luckily KP loved it also!  When I ordered the fabric I didn't pay attention to where it was being shipped from until I received a package from Uzbekistan!  It truly is authentic!  I ordered another pattern that I haven't used yet.  The only problem with my "authentic" ikat is that it's only about 17 in wide.  Not a whole lot I can do with that...I'll find another bench I guess.  

Attempting this "small business" idea of mine, I need to be able to ship.  I had heard from multiple people that Greyhound Shipping is really convenient and cheap.  KP agreed to be my Greyhound Guinea Pig...I needed to use somebody I already knew instead of putting a random client through the learning process.  It's quite a humorous story so I've saved a whole entry for it  : ) 

cheers!

scottie

navy blue velvet. painted shimmery gold.

I found this chair out in Queens from a lady who spends her time at garage sells. Her entire backyard and garage was full of random junk! Maybe I should have nominated her for Hoarders! The insides of this chair were quite gross, it's a very old chair. It looks very nice all freshened up though. This was the first chair I spray painted. I think I should spray paint more chairs, it took no time at all! Luckily my apartment building has a "courtyard" (some outside space where the trash is kept) where I can paint outside. Spray paint and small enclosed apartments do not mix well together!

Scottie never even had the chance to sit on Etsy or Craigslist, he went straight to Homebody Boutique in Brooklyn. I went by to check on him this weekend and the owner had a great story for me. An older women sat in it the other day and completely fell backwards! I was horrified! I told her that I would take Scottie home since he clearly wasn't stable, but she said that wasn't the problem. It was totally the old lady. Thankfully nobody was hurt, including Scottie!

patty

kelly green geometric print on white cotton fabric. painted glossy black.

The Patty Chair is for sale at Homebody Boutique in Park Slope, Brooklyn. A great little store that supports local artists, including yours truly!  Weird enough, there's not much of a story behind patty.  I named it after my birthday.  This kelly green is one of my favorite colors, maybe because I'm a St. Patrick's Day baby.  

the heights

golden yellow and taupe diamond on linen blend fabric. painted taupe. trimmed with golden yellow and soft white textured ribbon.

I received an email from a girl who had seen my twins chair posting. She told me she bought two chairs and has had them for a year with the ambition of reupholstering them, clearly it hadn't happened. I had so much fun working with her, emailing back and forth all day about fabric and style. She chose the fabric and then gave me free reign on the rest. I'm in the process of recovering two stool seats for her.

tailored

brown velvet pin-stripe. silver nailhead trim. painted light blue/gray

I bought this from a lady in the LES, actually I can't say bought, she gave it to me! Crazy, I know! I had been wanting to take on a sofa, and it turns out this wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. The one catch with the "free sofa" was I had to pick it up. Another obstacle of living in NYC, nobody has Tahoes, trucks, etc. I found a struggling actor/model, orginally from Mexico and had just moved up here from San Antonio. Of course Tex-Mexicans had a truck and wanted to help others!

twins

turquoise whimsy pattern on light blue cotton fabric. painted charcoal gray/blue.

I sold these chairs as I pair (forgot to take a pic of both before they sold). I don't think I would have had room to take a picture of these together. At the time, I had 4 extra chairs and a sofa in my 650 sq ft apartment! Luckily they sold the same day I put them up. The man I bought them from had a set of 8 chairs, unfortunately I don't have room to store 8 chairs. They are really beautifully made chairs. The down fall of living in NYC.